The invention concerns an illumination system for wavelength ≦193 nm, particularly for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, as well as a projection exposure apparatus with such an illumination system and a process for the production of microelectronic components with such a projection exposure apparatus.
In order to reduce the structural widths for electronic components, particularly in the submicron range, it is necessary to reduce the wavelength of the light utilized for microlithography. Lithography with soft x-rays, so-called EUV lithography, is conceivable at wavelengths below 193 nm, for example.
An illumination system suitable for EUV lithography will homogeneously, i.e., uniformly illuminate, with as few reflections as possible, a predetermined field for EUV lithography, particularly the annular field of an objective. Furthermore, the pupil of the objective should be illuminated up to a specific degree of filling, independent of the field, and the exit pupil of the illumination system should lie in the entrance pupil of the objective.
An illumination system for a lithography device, which uses EUV radiation, has been made known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,246. For uniform illumination in the reticle plane and filling of the pupil, U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,246 proposes a condenser, which is constructed as a collector lens, and comprises at least four pairs of mirror facets, which are arranged symmetrically. A plasma light source is used as the light source.
An illumination system with a plasma light source comprising a condenser mirror is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,137, in which an illumination of a mask or a reticle to be illuminated is achieved by means of spherical mirrors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,292 shows an illumination system, in which a plasma light source is provided and the point plasma light source is imaged by means of a condenser, which has at least three aspherical mirrors arranged off-center, in a ring-shaped illuminated surface.
An illumination system has been made known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,605, in which a photon beam is spilt into a multiple number of secondary light sources by means of a plate with raster elements. A homogeneous or uniform illumination is achieved in this way in the reticle plane. The imaging of the reticle on the wafer to be exposed is produced by means of a conventional reducing optics. A gridded mirror with equally curved elements is provided precisely in the illuminating beam path.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,939 shows an illumination system for EUV illumination devices, in which an annular field is homogeneously illuminated. In the EUV illumination system according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,939, the beams emitted from the EUV source are formed into a parallel beam of light, for example, by means of a mirror. In order to form a multiple number of secondary light sources, the parallel beam of light is guided onto a mirror with a plurality of cylinder raster elements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,939 also describes the use of synchrotron radiation sources, but of course, the light of the source is guided directly onto the mirror with cylinder raster elements, due to the parallel nature of the emitted synchrotron radiation, without optical elements situated therebetween. All embodiments shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,939 operate in a parallel beam path. In addition, the facetted mirrors known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,939 contain facets with an optical effect and are arranged on a planar substrate.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,759 for an arc shaped-field projection system with a synchrotron radiation source an illumination system has been made known, which comprises a condenser system with a multiple number of convergent mirrors. The mirrors collect the radiation emitted by the synchrotron radiation source, to form an annular light beam, which corresponds to the annular field to be illuminated. Therefore, the annular field is illuminated very uniformly. The synchrotron radiation source has a beam divergence >100 mrads in the beam plane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,781 shows an illumination system with a synchrotron radiation source, in which the waveguide value, i.e., the Lagrange optical invariant, is adjusted by means of a scatter disk in the entrance pupil of the objective, whereby the scatter disk may have a plurality of pyramidal structures. The synchrotron radiation source in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,781 also has a beam divergence >100 mrads. The collector mirror for collecting the synchrotron radiation and bundling the same may itself be constructed with facets.
The disclosure content of all of the previously named documents:    U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,246    U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,137    U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,292    U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,605    U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,939    U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,759    U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,781is incorporated in the present application by reference.